The Southern African Development Community (SADC) needs to accelerate the establishment of a regional development fund in order to financially boost regional industrialisation through core investments.

Speaking at the just-ended SADC Council of Ministers in Durban, South Africa, Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira, said the regional development fund is an indispensable imperative for the region's sovereignty.

Murwira said SADC countries must move towards collective sovereignty through core investments and common programmes that bring the people of the region together in pursuing industrialisation.

Since SADC was created for independence, not dependence, Murwira said regional interventions towards attaining economic emancipation demand a decisive shift from planning to actual implementation.

"We know we can contribute to peace and security when we are faced with a threat like Ebola or a threat like instability. We sit together and say, 'How much does it cost?' I know for Mozambique, we contributed over 400 million dollars. I know for DRC, we also contributed more than 400 million dollars. We should do the same on industrialisation. We must be able to say our threat is poverty; therefore, let us put in 100 million dollars. This is the level at which we are."

Unemployment exceeds 30% in six member states, while 58 million people in the region remain uncertain about their next meal, with young people making up 60% of the population.